Iranian billet export market remained silent throughout the week with no significant deals concluded. Bid-offer disparities and cheaper Russian billet offers have dragged down billet export prices, SteelMint notes. Market participants have adopted a wait-and-watch mode amid falling bids and prices.
SteelMint’s latest assessment of Iran’s billet (3SP) export prices stood at $595/t FOB on 24 May, down $15/t, w-o-w.
SteelMint had reported previously that Iranian mills floated over 130,000 t of billet export tenders. According to market sources, many of these tenders did not conclude owing to bid-offer disparities.
“Iranian mills were looking for prices at around $580/t FOB for billet tenders,” informed a source.
Meanwhile, one of the major semi-finished steel exporters from Iran, Khouzestan Steel Company, has opened export tenders for 40,000-50,000 t each of steel billet and slab with the due date being 31 May 2022. The shipments are likely to be scheduled for early August.
Domestic billet, rebar prices head southwards
Iran’s domestic billet and rebar prices witnessed a sharp fall amid low buying interest, falling IME prices and power outage issues, sources informed SteelMint.
Domestic billet trades largely stable at IME
Domestic billet sales on the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) remained largely stable. However, the average sales price decreased marginally by 3%, w-o-w.
Around 129,460 t of billets were traded on IME in the week under review at an average sales price of 146,878 Rial. Last week, about 128,400 t of billets were traded at an average sales price of 151,332 Rial.
Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-finished steel exports in April 2022 stood at 0.63 mnt, registering a 75% rise as against the same month last year. Billets and blooms accounted for 0.58 mnt of the total semi-finished exports in April, up sharply by 73% y-o-y, while slab exports were up by 77% y-o-y to 0.05 mnt.
Outlook
With the problem of power supply re-emerging in Iran, the country’s steel production is likely to remain restricted in the near future, affecting billet export allocations. As per sources, power curb notices have already been sent to the mills and curbs are likely to be effective in the next ten days.
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